This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

The Liberal government has “declared war” on the public service with a scheme to eliminate thousands of jobs through privatization, Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas says.

Thomas said Monday the government tabled a contract offer Thursday for some 38,000 direct government workers that was riddled with clauses that would outsource large swaths of the public service.

“They declared war,” said Thomas, who was on his way to London, Ont. to picket Treasury Board President Deb Matthews’ constituency office.

Thomas told the Star that if the Liberals have their ways, up to 10,000 workers currently providing an assortment of public services could lose their jobs,

“The want to review all classifications starting with IT . . . if they get what they want in this collective agreement it will be the end of the public service as you know it . . . it’s quote cynical what they are doing,” he said.

Article Continued Below

A spokeswoman for Matthews declined to talk about negotiations.

“Because contract negotiations between the Ontario government and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have commenced we cannot comment on any specifics related to ongoing issues that may be part of the bargaining process,” Samantha Grant stated in an email.

Said Thomas: “Honest to God, it is far worse than anything Mike Harris tabled,” referring to the former Progressive Conservative premier.

“The difference between (Liberal Premier Kathleen) Wynne and Harris is that Harris came straight at you and Wynne smiles while sticking a knife in your back and so does Matthews,” he said

The union contract expires Dec. 31 and if a deal is not reached, Thomas warned it could mean “a government-wide strike.” He vowed that OPSEU would hold protests across the province in the interim.

Among other things, Thomas said the government put the complete privatization of Service Ontario — the one-stop spot to get a driver’s licence renewal, a hunting licence and so on — on the bargaining table.

He said there are “all kinds” of services within the government that generate revenue from such things as fees, and it’s these areas, he says, the government wants to hand over the private sector.

“What they are really looking for is a bunch of upfront cash . . . and the last thing standing between us and all that kind of stuff getting outsourced is the collective agreement. At the end of the day it’s the taxpayers that getting royally screwed.”

Interim Tory Leader Jim Wilson recalled how the Liberals pilloried his party during the spring election for threatening to scrap 100,000.

“Now they are going to get rid of a whole pile — thousands — either through stealth of privatization or by other means. It’s typical Liberals, they say one thing and do another,” said Wilson.

“I suspect they have a lot of friends in the private sector that will do quite well by this.”

In the meantime, Wynne told reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday that $468 million her government gave teachers last year was money well spent to buy labour peace.

The $468 million — which ate into the $2.4 billion in savings originally estimated from Bill 115 — came in new deals with several unions, Ontario’s auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said in a report earlier this month.

“When I ran in my leadership I made it clear we were going to work to re-establish our good working relationship with our partners in education,” Wynne said, insisting it was not new money but rather taken out of savings realized by Bill 115, which imposed a wage freeze.

Even so, teachers are still challenging Bill 115 before the courts and Wynne refused to comment on what the financial implications are for taxpayers should the teachers be successful.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com